Perhaps no man has fallen from the grace of the GOP faster than NJ Governor Chris Christie.

Tensions have been mounting between the Christie and the GOP. At this year’s CPAC Convention, which hosts some of the greatest names in the conservative party Christie was denied entrance. Christie struck a sour note with conservatives for palling up with Obama during Hurricane Sandy. The bill to send money to victims was full of pork, and republicans wanted to make sure that the money was only going to the victims- not special interests. Christie attacked them for it.

US senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said that Christie needed to “cool it” with the tantrums. Christie fired back and said that Paul was bringing too much pork home from Washington. Paul countered, calling Christie “The King of Bacon“. It seems the King of Bacon may have just provided warrant for Paul’s claim.

According to a report in the Asbury Park Press, a new ad campaign dubbed “Stronger Than The Storm” stars Christie and his family. The ad campaign is costing taxpayers almost $5 million. The price tag comes in $2 million higher than a bid denied by the Governor’s administration from a competing firm. The ads are part of a $25 million dollar state tourism fund given to New Jersey in the Sandy relief bill.

“The contract documents shine new light on the role Christie administration officials had in the new TV commercials, which are controversial because they give Christie more exposure during a gubernatorial election year, and also because they introduce him to voters in other states in advance of a possible 2016 presidential campaign. The top official on the selection committee, appointed by Christie, once received a $49,000 loan from Christie when he was the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.”

The heavy payday for MWW (the firm winning the bid) is $2.2 million higher than what was sought by the competing firm, Sigma Group. Shannon Morris, president and owner of Sigma Group, said she doesn’t have a clear understanding of how her firm lost the bid. Of the four bidders, MWW and Sigma were selected based on technical scoring by state officials for a final round of negotiations. They were also the two lowest-priced bids.

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“I don’t know how you can qualify that as the best value for the state,” Morris said of MWW’s $4.7 million contract compared to Sigma’s $2.5 million offer. “You have two equally reputable firms and it’s debatable if one is better than the other. And in a competition like that it should come down to price, especially when you’re dealing with something as sensitive as Sandy recovery funding. To make a decision that spends $2 million more on agencies leaves me scratching my head. I don’t understand it.”

Here comes the interesting part about the two bidding companies. The two bidders had different views on how the campaign should be run. MWW wanted to put Christie in the ads. The other bidder, Sigma Group, did not. MWW won the contract- regardless of their demanding $2.2 million more. Is it possible that the official, who received a $49,000 loan from the Governor, made a bias decision in choosing ads that featured the Governor during his reelection? Seems likely.

In addition, MWW is a prolific political contributor, mostly to Democrats. However, its employees have given to Christie. Sigma Group hasn’t made political contributions.

MWW employees donated $1,000 to Christie’s 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary campaign and $1,500 to his 2010 inaugural committee. However, Michael Kempner, MWW’s founder and CEO, leans Democratic. Kempner hosted a political fundraiser for President Barack Obama at his home in Cresskill in 2010 and “bundled” — the term for collecting donations from friends and associates — almost $3.1 million in campaign funds for the Democrat in 2011 and 2012. Also, the MWW Group PAC spent $95,250 in the 2012 federal election cycle, 73 percent of the money going to Democrats. However, the largest single expenditure, $5,000, was paid to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The Star Ledger, a local NJ newspaper says, “Gov. Chris Christie’s habit of using his public office to promote his presidential ambitions has reached a new low.”

-Is Christie attempting to exploit federal dollars to promote himself through crony capitalism, or is he attempting to save the NJ tourism industry? Let us know in the comments below.

Michael Lotfi is a Persian-American political analyst and adviser living in Nashville, Tennessee.Lotfi is the founder and CEO of BrandFire Consulting LLC. The firm specializes in public and private technology centered brand development, lead generation, data aggregation, online fundraising, social media, advertising, content generation, public relations, constituency management systems, print and more.Lotfi is also the executive state director for the Tennessee Tenth Amendment Center, a think-tank focused on restraining federal overreach.Lotfi graduated with top honors from Belmont University, a private Christian university located in Nashville, Tennessee.

How do we get rid of these scumbag politicians, on BOTH sides of the aisle?

defyapathy

VOTE and actively back independent candidates

Tom223

Promote ideas and not parties. Illustrate the principles of Freedom and liberty. Indicate where the actions of politicians whether Dem or GOP violate those principles. Just Don’t play the game of arguing about Dem vs GOP. It is irrelevant data. The principles are the important things. Dem GOP is just a distraction – don’t engage with it with anyone.

Chris

It’s called the Star-Ledger, but aside from that great piece.

Freddy Di Guglielmo

Start Killing These Scumbags… Or Stop Crying About it!!

Jim Thompson

Vent your homicidal rages elsewhere. Most of us believe that change can come without murder! I’m wondering what side you are actually on.

Tom223

That sort of action has been attempted in the past and it ends up very bad. In history, there have been hundreds of thousands of people beheaded over political disagreement. Look at the French revolution. How many people had to be killed in Russia to bring about a single political viewpoint and entity during it’s revolution. A single idea is much more powerful than a million bullets. Crying about it is not a good idea either. The only sane course of action is to determine the underlying principle of the thing and determine the course of action that will bring about the greatest survival for all concerned.

jac

Not only is Christie King of Bacon, sounds like he’s Captain of Cronyism, too. Christie is another John McCann, with a worse temper if that’s possible. GOP needs to keep him out. Excellent reporting on this one!

Ron Dean

Looks like Christie is into the pork in more ways than one.

srmmedia

Can you imagine if Christie was ever President what kind of tantrums he may throw with other world leaders like Putin who refuse to back down to the US? Christie could very well get us in a Nuclear War with his temper.

mog386

Can you source the information in the “Follow the Money” section, this section and only this section makes your article seem sketchy. All other sections are sourced.

Also, it is worthwhile to note that most state’s tourism promos (this is a post-sandy tourism promo) feature the state’s current governor.

Michael Lotfi

It is sourced. Link is working fine.

mog386

Ah, the section header is the link, did not see that.

YelowJezamin

I know a sweet grandmother who lost her home because of Sandy. She died last month, still unable to find out if – or when – the government would let her rebuild. The stressors of Sandy were bad enough on her 72-year-old heart – losing everything and not having a home since the storm, finally wore her out. Thanks, Governor Christie. You’re an ass, not a Republican, and ALL of your constituents know it.

mog386

I’m actually one of his constituents. Please don’t speak for all of us. Thank you.

Tom223

Good “feet on the ground”. Have you seen the adds? As a constituent, and setting aside any bias you might have pro or con, What do you think of them? Is he using them to promote himself or Tourism – or maybe both?

mog386

Yes, I have seen the ads, they air on all local channels at all times of the day here. And honestly, I hate the ads. Then again, that might simply be because they have been on the air for about 4+ months here, so the marketing effect has worn off on me.

Considering the ad is explicitly to promote NJ tourism, it is most definitely for that purpose, and i feel that this is the largest part of the reasoning behind the ad. However, I do believe it is a strategic move on his part to promote himself for re-election this year.

YelowJezamin

Sorry! Perhaps I should have said, “All of your constituents OUGHT to know it”.

Joe Mama

Let him be president. Let him ruin the government, then we can run then all out and start fresh.

Is Chris Christie using available funds to promote his own political ambitions through crony capitalism or is this a legitimate use of funds to promote and give a much needed boost for tourism along the Jersey shore?

End of one of our writer’s articles

Is Christie attempting to exploit federal dollars to promote himself through avenues of crony capitalism, or is he attempting to save the NJ tourism industry? Let us know in the comments below.

End of this article.

Talk about original……..

David William Reid

He is and always has been a closet Democrat. I told people this years ago when they were voting for him. No one listened to me back then and many still voted for him. Actually I cannot remember the last time Americans voted for the right people. They seem to be led around by the back of the neck and fed like sheeple to the slaughter of themselves. Keep voting Democrat and Republican, and this is what you will keep getting. Low life back stabbing, race baiting country dividing idiots who only care about their OWN pockets while screwing us all over!

Politics has become nothing more than a smoke screen. They have set up this phony game of “Us against Them” and the citizens are expected to take sides. Unfortunately most do play the game, pick a side and miss the point that both parties are “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing” and they are from the same pack.

williethemayor

the willie’s favorite ” all time ” goverment banner ( FEMA ) happened right after sandy…………………………..” CLOSED DUE TO WEATHER “

Tom223

That’s great. I hadn’t heard of this. People need to be allowed to stand up on their own two feet. It is the states and cities and the people living there who should be taking care of each other. Look at what happened in New Orleans. So many of the people there had spent their lives relying on the government for their daily survival. When the government left town they were helpless.

williethemayor

willie ponders……………what really happened to the State of Franklin?

CAN’T STAND RAND

…and don’t forget all of the spending being funneled towards RAND PAUL’S ILLEGAL ALIENS (on top of all the Americans killed by them). I hope… GOD ABOVE, I HOPE… this venture into “new” journalism, ISN’T THE SAME AS THE OLD! STOP SHILLING FOR RAND!!!!!!!!!! RAND IS NOT RON, BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION!!!!!!!!!!

Tom223

Who said Rand was Ron?
The article used an interaction wherein both politicians accused each other of pork. It happened so why not report it? You fail to give sufficient data and spend most of your time shouting recriminations. It is not useful because you lose your audience. You may have some valid point but it’s lost when you communicate with resentment and anger. Shout as much as you want – no one will listen.

CAN’T STAND RAND

FALSE. The “article” was used as a vehicle to PROMOTE REPUBLICAN Rand. The REPUBLICAN media applies the same transparent tactic to promote Rand, Palin, Rush and other REPUBLICANS.

bobjonestwo

Obviously Obama gave Christie an offer he couldn’t refuse to sell out and support the Obama and Dems agenda, a lifetime supply of twinkies.

CAN’T STAND RAND

Wait… you mean the Dems AND REPUBS agenda of unconstitutional “disaster” funding? Or the Dems AND REPUBS agenda of laundering promotional money?

Tom223

Neither the Democrats or Republicans as political parties have the wellbeing of the country as their motivation. They serve themselves and their masters. That’s not to say that either party doesn’t have well intended members. Traficant didn’t march to the Democrat drum despite being a member of the party. Ron Paul worked hard to reform the GOP from within. We need to focus on principles and not get distracted by the game of GOP vs Dem.

CAN’T STAND RAND

NO, Ron Paul NEVER WORKED TO “REFORM” THE LEFTIST REPUBLICAN PARTY “FROM WITHIN.” He was FORCED BACK INTO THE LEFTIST PARTY, AFTER QUITTING IT in the 80’s (the republican socialists’ hayday), because of their ABSOLUTE MONOPOLY on politics.

I think you’ve accidentally confused Ron with his sellout son Rand.

Tom223

It was a way for him to make it into the debates and get some of his ideas into the public. That has value. He found the best way to keep working toward ideals of liberty. You are using derogatory remarks overly much and it distracts from your point. The effect is to be irritating rather in communication. It weakens your ability to influence the opinions or ideas of others. Thanks for responding. Sounds like you have some good thoughts on the matter. It’s too bad that your points can get covered up by unpleasant emotion.

Elizabeth Dunleavy Bauman

Clearly, you are gay and I don’t mean happy..

Sally_Oh

Thank you for revealing his true nature once and for all.

barkallnight

I am extremely disappointed in the Liberty Rising site. Instead of Ben Swann presenting a fair account of what is happening in government (like we got with Reality Check). There are these one sided partisan stories by some Republican lap dog. No thanks!

Ben if this is what you envisioned you should have just stayed on FOX.

glockstr

So exposing a politician who is funneling tax dollars into his own election campaign is a one sided partisan story?

CAN’T STAND RAND

NO, “reporting” on a DESIGNATED WHIPPING BOY (either Christie, Rove, Graham, McCain, etc.) TO PROMOTE REPUBLICANS LIKE RAND PAUL AND HIS LEFTIST REPUBLICAN PARTY, WHILE DISGUISING IT AS “REPORTING,” IS A HUGE PROBLEM. And places you, as barkallnight noted, IN THE SAME VEIN AS FOX/Clearchannel/Townhall/Brightbart/Blaze/Hotair/etc, AND ALL OF THE OTHER REPUBLICAN MEDIA.

glockstr

Well if they didn’t use tax dollars for their campaign, draft legislation that allows the government to indefinitely detain citizens, support spying on American’s or advocate for stricter gun control maybe they wouldn’t be whipping boys. Just a thought.

CAN’T STAND RAND

That’s NOT why they are whipping boys. They are whipping boys because the ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICAN PARTY SAYS SO. It’s a SCAM to TRICK PEOPLE into thinking the LEFTIST republican party is just a bad apple or two away from rehabilitation. IN REALITY, the SNAKE (WHO CANNOT BE REHABILITATED) is just shedding the latest layer of skin.

Tom223

“LEFTIST republican party” is a nonsensical concept when directed at Rand Paul – minimally you haven’t defined what you mean – and have failed to communicate. The points indicated by “glockstr” are leftist positions held by Democrats and mainstream Republicans. Salvation for America will not be found within the Republican or Democrat establishment. Each serves their own ends and neither serves the people. It is individual ideas and individual people who point the way to recovering Freedom and Liberty. Give facts and not innuendo.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT RAND PAUL SUPPORTED, when he ENDORSED Romney, McConnell and the LEFTIST republican party.

Tom223

Good points to be sure as regards the Republican party. You’ve given the impression you believe Rand Paul is in favor of the above sort of unconstitutional actions. I’m not aware of this being the case. if you have evidence of this on any of the points you’ve listed I’d be happy to see it. By the way I believe in principles and not Parties. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a Republican politician campaigning with the slogan “Win Back America” for the Republican party. It should be about America winning and not some party, Dem or GOP.

CAN’T STAND RAND

I suppose I can list proof AGAIN.

Rand Paul SUPPORTS ALL OF THE ABOVE, by ENDORSING Romney, McConnell and the LEFTIST REPUBLICAN PARTY (and actually PUSHING TREASONOUS AMNESTY, as a way to PRESERVE the future of his LEFTIST republican party). There will be those who claim you can support a CRIMINAL, while rejecting their crimes… but it DOES NOT work that way. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.

drpetar

Rand Paul does not support much of that. Just because he endorsed another candidate does not mean all of his views line up with their’s. I’m not going to dissect all of those topics, but he’s been pretty vocal about his views on nation building, the TSA, drones, gun-grabbing, and bailouts in just the last few months.

Tom223

Interesting points. Worth further invest.

glockstr

Uh, those I listed ARE the establishment republican party.

glockstr

Do you just RANDOMLY hit the caps button?

calico_kitty

and you support, as well, Graham and McCain’s trip to Egypt, negotiating to try to reinstall the Morsi/brotherhood regime back to power? Just askin’…

CAN’T STAND RAND

Strange. I don’t know what I’ve written that would suggest that. No, I DESPISE the LEFTIST republican party and LEFTIST democrat party and their DAILY destruction of Constitutional Liberty.

barkallnight

Just take a glance at the sidebar. How many times do you see the words GOP or Republican.

The whole point of Liberty Rising was to break down the right vs. left paradigm. If your view of someone is based solely on what letter is next to there name then there is no hope for any of us.

glockstr

As there is also no hope if one cannot do an article that happens to support anyone affiliated with the Republicans or Democrats. Your rants seem to do nothing but focus on Republicans. I understand you may be non-partisan as anyone else here but you sure wouldn’t know it. You also seem to be neglecting that there are a few stories on liberty rising regarding Lindsey Graham (a republican) being challenged which is a good thing for liberty.

barkallnight

You have made some good points. I would also agree with your first response about funneling tax dollars to fund Christies campaign.

My point is this. There are a lot of people out there that would be just as outraged by what is happening in our government if they knew what was truly going on. And some of those people are turned off once they see what appears to be a political leaning one way or the other.

What made Reality Check so great was that it was presented without a slant. This allowed me to send it to friends that were Obama bots, get them to watch and let them come to their own conclusion. Through this means I was able to wake some people up to what was really going on.

When there is a an obvious slant in the sites presentation or in the writers article you are going to alienate yourself from others that would have been onboard if they were just presented the facts.

This is a fair account of what is happening in Government. Your tax dollars are being spent to promote Chris Christie and this article goes through the events as they happen (naming organizations, dollar amounts etc) as they happened. Breaking the left / right paradigm doesn’t mean we pretend folks are not affiliated with a political party or that political parties do not exist. They are very real.

defyapathy

This is the kind of reporting I come to this site for. In terms of corruption in gov, he is only one of many examples, I look forward to more of this caliber of reporting – vote the porker out!

berky

Just remember that voting alone isn’t enough… especially in a presidential race. the electoral system is completely corrupt and our votes are essentially meaningless.

Genkboy

I wish this corruption was seriously corrected. I truly believe the last 3 presidential elections were COMPLETE FRAUD. Back to the basics! Hand count the votes… fix this crap!

Randy

Can you clarify what you mean by “porker”?

L.A.

Superb reporting of how elected officials abuse their position with using advertising to promote their next election. Christie threw Romney under the bus and showed his true colors back then. So here we are again. Glad Rand Paul said it loud and clear while firing back. When did truth become a tantrum?

CAN’T STAND RAND

Yup. As superb as the “reporting” on the REPUBLICAN Blaze, REPUBLICAN Hotair, REPUBLICAN Townhall, REPUBLICAN Breitbart and all of the other REPUBLICAN media.

Beth Knuetter

Things would be so much different if the “all Democrat” media,CNN,MSNBC,ABC,CBS,NBC and the rest of the Liberal media did the reporting.

CAN’T STAND RAND

No, it would be the same. The “liberal” (actually LEFTIST) media (FOX/CNN/Clearchannel/MSNBC/Townhall/Huffpo/Hotair/Blaze/Breitbart/etc, are ALL the same.

Tom223

Those are just generalities and not an argument. Be specific.

CAN’T STAND RAND

Sure. Generally speaking, the REPUBLICAN media can never OVERTLY promote heroes, as the republican party is HOPELESSLY LEFTIST, and they would lose ALL CREDIBILITY. So, what they do, instead, is create VILLAINS. This is EXTREMELY EASY. Then, they will pit that “villain” against their chosen republican puppet. Christie is a great example. When Christie was the REPUBLICAN-designated puppet in 2010, the REPUBLICAN media created their “villain” in “angry teachers vs Christie”… thus PROMOTING Christie. Then, when Christie is the REPUBLICAN-designated villain in 2013, and Rand is the REPUBLICAN-designated puppet, the REPUBLICAN media will run the narrative “Christie vs. Rand”… thus PROMOTING Rand.

See how it works? Who ACT LIKE you’re exposing a villain, but you’re really PROMOTING your hero – in a sneaky, deceptive way.

Tom223

I see what you are saying. It’s an interesting trick. Where I stop tracking with you is the attention given to “REPUBLICAN media”. To me that is just more falling into the trap they’ve set. The Dems and GOP are essentially the same. Big government, pro war, big spending. There is no point in going after anyone as Republican or Democrat as that is just a distraction from the constant betrayal of Freedom and Liberty coming from both parties. They both are just as destructive. The powers that be want the average man arguing about Dem / GOP opposition so they never have the time to look at what is really happening.

ZacharyBendickson

You both make very good points. It’s always nice to see people who actually think for themselves. Personally I wish Ron Paul was running again, not a huge fan of his son. Although Rand is better than many I would prefer a true Libertarian. Gary or maybe Ammash.

What you say actually has a point. More Democrats must be willing to see this fact too, then both ex-Republicans and ex-Democrats can create a strong third party that can and will bring down this two-party system that almost always fools the American voter.

http://www.facebook.com/ramon.johannessen Ramon Johannessen

Sorry, that tactic (generalizing, then lumping it all under one title to demonize truth-seekers) is so transparent it’s absurd. The TRUTH is being reported here, if you aren’t concerned with the truth, then get out. This is not left or right, this is reality…it is what it is, and it is not Republican-sponsored.

Linda H

I don’t know, but I sure got sick of seeing him on commercials.

Randy

Can’t somebody put a roasted turkey on a pole and lure him to Canada or something?

Well, I gotta admit that song “McArther Park” by Richard Harris reminds me of Cristie. That’s how he’d react if he saw his cake outside in the rain.

calico_kitty

Christie is another classic example of a political hack. If NJ keeps supporting this buffoon, then they deserve what they get.

pbfrank13

Unfortunately we never get a real candidate. They are all parasites, corporatists, and get elected by quid pro quo. Christie had a solid prosecution record, mostly of democrats as a state prosecutor, but he has been full of his own corruption and underhanded dealings.

Truth is NJ is messed up either way whether Cristie wins or not. The Democrat can’t be much better and is likely even worse than Cristie who is recently up more than 20 points in the polls against his Democratic challenger.

The problem, however, goes deeper than the two candidates…much deeper. NJ is basically what I’d like to call a soft liberal state and trends blue most of the time. The best Republican that state can hope for is either a soft Republican or a total RINO to serve as Governor. Many voters in the state are not equipped with fighting power to fight any established Washington candidate. So, this much deeper problem is reflected in how the state basically votes as a whole from election to election.

ExposeCopiers

This article was rewritten. This is not journalism or reporting, this is pure laziness. Get creative.

pbfrank13

how so? What was re-written? This seems like a pretty good chronological reporting of the events involved with Sandy Aid.

I’m always amazed at how little it takes to buy off a politician. I think Christie used this money for his morning bacon budget.

kevin777

Another great piece. Keep em coming.

Kim

i can’t believe at one point I thought Christie was one of the good guys. I was very wrong, and I hope that everyone is seeing him for the sell out that he truly is. He worships the evil in the WH…

TrollStomper9000

Isn’t this more like soft-fascism? Meh… I suppose it’s the same thing as crony crapitalism. Personally, I think fascism is a better word. Granted people could interpret it as going Goodwin. Regardless, the Bacon King needs to step down…

Hmmm…just had a random thought. I’m wondering what Chris Cristie would sound if he would get up on stage and sang “McArthur Park” by Richard Harris. Now, THAT…THAT would be interesting! The visuals…the visuals… LOL

PUNISHER

THAT SOUND TO ME AS A GOOD TIME TO ARREST HIM FOR ALOCATING FUNDS FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL GAIN. JAIL TIME THEY WILL LOVE HIS SOFT FAT BUTT.

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